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A Sign of Spring – The Annual NORA Symposium

April 2021  The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Symposium was held virtually via Zoom on April 22, 2021 focusing on the topic of COVID-19 in the Workplace: Creating Safe Workspaces.  With over 450 attendees, the event began with six poster presentations followed by a question and answer session.  Dr. Mike Osterholm was the keynote presenter …

SPOTLIGHT: NIOSH’s 50th Anniversary

APRIL 2021 Now, more than ever, worker health in the United States is a priority to each and every one of us. During this time of great challenges and changes in public health, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is celebrating their 50th anniversary throughout all of 2021. Established by the Occupational Safety and Health …

Parkinson’s Disease and Aging in Agriculture

APRIL 2021 Parkinson’s disease impacts over one million people living in the United States, and rural or agricultural communities may encounter challenges and barriers to diagnosis or specialized care. UMASH partnered with AgriSafe Network to host Aging and Parkinson’s Disease in Agriculture. On April 13, over 100 attendees joined the webinar …

Mobile COVID-19 Vaccinations and Immigrant Dairy Workers

APRIL 2021 Dairy workers in the country face considerable occupational risks and hazards in their daily operations. As essential workers, the risk of contracting COVID-19 has become an additional concern. Many are immigrants, and in the face of other barriers such as language, transportation and immigration concerns dairy farms are finding it difficult …

SPOTLIGHT: Being essential – What does that mean for dairy farms?

APRIL 2021 Essential: [noun] Something necessary, indispensable, or unavoidable Since COVID-19 arrived a year ago, the word essential has become a common term, particularly with CDC guidance, defining certain occupations and people as essential workers. In March 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared agriculture, including the dairy …

SPOTLIGHT: A Season of Patience, Preparations, and Precautions

APRIL 2021 Spring is a welcomed time of year, a reminder of renewed hope. For agricultural communities, however, spring also means a busy season and new hazards on the farm. In the following article, recently published in The Augusta Chronicle, Marion Barnes and Brittany Flowers of Clemson University County Extension discuss key ways to prevent injury …

SPOTLIGHT: Female Farmers stress resiliency survey

APRIL 2021 Women in agriculture are encouraged to take the Weathering Stress in Agriculture 2021 Questionnaire, an anonymous online survey created by UMASH, the University of Minnesota Extension-Women in Ag Network, American Agri-Women (AAW), and Minnesota Agri-Women District 11. All input and responses will build on knowledge from past surveys and …

Recognizing our Essential Workers

MARCH 2021 The Virtual Migrant and Community Health Conference: Recognizing Our Essential Workers was held the week of March 22 – 26, 2021. The Promoting Worker Health and Safety Project for Immigrant Dairy Workers presented an hour session – giving an overview of the project previously in Wisconsin and currently in Minnesota. Chela Vazquez …

Cultivating a Culture of Safety

MARCH 2021 Ag professionals and researchers from across the country came together March 22-24 for the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America’s (ASHCA) North American Agricultural Safety Summit, Raising Safety, Cultivate a Culture of Safety. The goal of this year’s event was to align evidence-based safety interventions with production …